Wright wins Quicksilver Pro after return from brain injury
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Monday, March 20, 2017
Owen Wright and Stepanie Gilmore have dominated the finals of the surfing held on Sunday at the Quicksilver and Roxy Pro surfing events held at Australia’s Gold Coast. Owen Wright won the quicksilver pro for the first time and local surfer and six time world champion Stephanie Gilmore took out the Roxy pro ahead of US Lakey Peterson.
This event was the return to world tour competition for Wright who has had to take more than a year off competitive surfing after suffering a debilitating brain injury in 2015 that threatened to end his surfing career. Wright received and injury wildcard from the World Surf League to return to competition on the world stage. Wright who is brother to current women’s world champion Tyler Wright, has been through a year of intense rehabilitation to overcome the brain injury and regain the fitness required to compete with the worlds best.
Wright impressed in his return as he defeated his competitors on route to the final held at the Snapper Rocks surf break. His path to the final included wins over previous world champions Mick Fanning, Kelly Slater and Gabriel Medina.
The final pitted him against last years defending event champion Matt Wilkinson. Wright won with a two wave total of 14.66 to Wilkinson’s total of 13.50. The win means that Wright now leads the world rankings on the way to the second stop of the world tour taking place at Margaret River, Western Australia.
In the women’s event Stephanie Gilmore won the women’s final for a 6th time with a score of 16.60 over Lakey Peterson who scored 12.66. Both women took strong form into the final with both scoring perfect 10 point rides in the previous rounds.